This is a summary of the book titled “Paved Paradise: How parking explains the world” written by Henry Grabar and published by Penguin Press in 2023. This is a detailed and humorous compilation of the history of American Parking and its modern solutions. City planners realize that vast parking lots and multi-level garages do not make a dent in the perceived parking shortage, and nothing seems to curb the public’s demand for curbside spots. Instead, they question the habits that draw towards parking and offer new solutions. Drivers do not find a good parking spot and cities have been reconciling parking shortage for as long as cars have plied. The parking focused approach to city planning has also not worked. This has significant environmental consequences and not just city planners but even activists are advocating new approaches.

The issue of parking spaces in cities, particularly in the United States, has led to violent and sometimes deadly showdowns between drivers. Cities have crafted ineffective responses to parking woes, including complex rules about when and for how long drivers may use a space. Municipalities seek to ease these challenges by requiring new buildings to provide a minimum number of parking spaces according to the size and function of each building. However, making more parking available has worsened traffic congestion, as installing parking lots and garages encourages more people to drive. Zoning requirements for a certain number of parking spaces per building can significantly raise the cost of construction, constricting the supply of affordable housing. Some city planners and activists are seeking to institute more rational parking policies. Cities have contended with perceived parking shortages for nearly as long as automobiles have existed.

Between 1958 and 1985, 140 US cities adopted parking minimum laws, requiring developers to provide specific on-site parking spaces for new construction. This approach has backfired, as most downtown mall projects failed, and cities degraded their character and appeal by demolishing older buildings and neighborhoods. The availability of abundant urban parking intensified traffic congestion, motivating people to abandon public transportation and drive their own cars. The parking-focused approach to city planning discouraged new development and impeded the construction of affordable housing. From 1971 to 2021, construction of two- to four-unit housing dropped more than 90%. Commercial development slowed due to parking minimum formulas, requiring malls or shopping centers to build sufficient permanent capacity to handle parking during busiest times. Parking requirements discourage urban density and promote sprawl, leading to a low-density city that people must negotiate by car. 

Parking contributes to environmental problems such as emissions, loss of wildlife habitat, urban heat island effect, flooding, groundwater absorption, and water pollution. Most US greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation, with traffic in Texas alone causing half of one percent of global carbon emissions. Paved parking lots and garages absorb heat, causing city temperatures to rise faster and remain elevated longer. Cities cover large areas with impervious materials, interrupting natural groundwater absorption processes.

Activists and city planners advocate for new approaches to parking, such as revoked parking minimums in 2015 in cities like New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Austin, Hartford, Buffalo, and San Francisco. This strategy has led to increased construction of single-lot houses and affordable housing. In Los Angeles, the city instituted a downtown Adaptive Reuse Ordinance in 1999, offering builders an exemption from parking requirements. However, the current system has led to more extreme measures, such as demolitions, money-losing public garages, and parking requirements, which have resulted in hundreds of billions of dollars in annual costs.

Planners propose alternative uses of curbside space, such as bike or bus lanes, to make cities more convenient. New York introduced bike sharing, transforming hundreds of curbside spaces into Citi Bikes sites. Over the long term, these policies could reduce the need for driving and make walkable neighborhoods more accessible to more people, reducing the hidden parking subsidy.

References: 

1. Previous book summary: https://1drv.ms/w/s!Ashlm-Nw-wnWhPMqgW00GRBjcefBNQ?e=PzrTbd    

2. ParkingSoftwareImplementation.docx: https://1drv.ms/w/s!Ashlm-Nw-wnWhMY77xvhyatq2qIKFA?e=RZxERO

3. SummarizerCodeSnippets.docx